Walking On Broken Glass
by Aminatsu032
Summary: Broken glass and broken lives. She breaks her heart, but she survives. "Sasuke." Emerald meets onyx. "Welcome home." - SasuSaku
1. No matter how long it takes,

_Both broken glass and broken lives,  
Will cut and feel so painful,  
Both broken glass and broken lives,  
Leave hurt, but nothing gainful._

we

are

**walking**

**on  
**

**broken  
**

**glass  
**

(

Had she not seen him with her own two eyes, she would not have believed them.

But they had been right, of course.

_Step_.

She halted on her tracks again, swallowing hard, breathing in air, reminding herself this _was not a dream_.

But it might very well be a dream, seeing at how _utterly impossible _everything was.

But if this was really impossible...

_Step_.

...how was it that he was here?

Naruto's wide grin broke her trance. "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura forced a small smile. "Naruto," she said and ever-so-slowly turned to the person beside him. Like Naruto, was battered and bleeding with bruises and cuts all over his face, but one look and she knew who it was.

She balled her hands into fists.

"Sasuke."

His onyx eyes flickered towards her for a second and, again, he looked away.

_What are you doing here?_

"Welcome home."

* * *

She had purposely avoided him after that. Whenever Naruto would set up a lunch date for their team, Sakura would decline most of the time – because most of the time _he _was invited. She would also decline group training, no matter how Naruto insisted or no matter how Kakashi teased or no matter how Sai told her that Uchiha Sasuke wasn't as much as an ass as he expected. (But an ass nonetheless.) When he sometimes found his way to the hospital, harboring injuries that were either from Naruto or whoever he decides to challenge for a spar, she would also mysteriously be on a day off or is busy with something else.

In other words, wherever Uchiha Sasuke was, Haruno Sakura wasn't.

But there had been other inevitable instances, too, when the two would meet – when Naruto would (obviously purposely) leave out the fact that he'd invited a certain black-haired, black-eyed boy or when said boy would unexpectedly show up in the middle of training or when they meet each other when he was on his way out and she was on her way in the Hokage Tower...

...or when they accidentally met in the market place.

Much like what was happening now.

It was already too late when Sakura realized that she'd in fact – in the middle of her daze – bumped into Sasuke. (She inwardly cursed herself when she softly muttered the word "sorry" before she realized who he was – _and _mentally kicked herself afterward for thinking like that because it _was _her fault because she wasn't paying attention and she wasn't _at all _bitter, so why not say sorry?)

Sakura's jade eyes widened slightly when she noticed him quietly picking up the apples that had accidentally fallen out of her brown paper bag. She crouched to the ground to gather the rest.

Sakura paused right before she picked up her third apple, feeling the anger rise up from the pit of her stomach.

"Sasuke, why are you here?" She had meant it to sound snappy, but, to her surprise, her voice sounded tired.

"Helping you pick up your apples," he replied, not even bothering to look at her as he did so, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura felt anger _and _annoyance now.

"I mean why are you _here_?" she asked again, looking at him seriously.

Sasuke picked up the last apple and raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm out of food," he said, taking the paper bag from beside the pink-haired girl and dropping the apples inside.

Sakura groaned in frustration. "I mean why are you back in _Konoha_?" she almost yelled, throwing both her hands up in the air, forgetting that she was holding three apples. Said apples now rolled on the ground again.

Sasuke looked at her stoically, unmoving, but his eyes, she noticed, looked far away, as if thinking hard about something. After a while, he reached for the three apples and dropped them, too, inside the paper bag.

Sakura almost failed to hear his answer as he stood up and started to walk away.

"Where else would I be?"

* * *

**_I._**

Sakura was seven when she first met her him. She was crying in the middle of a playground, all by herself, because her classmates teased her about her wide forehead again. She had been crying there for about an hour with no one to console her and comfort her... until a white handkerchief was offered to her by a stranger. Sakura stopped momentarily as she looked up to the stranger. He was beautiful, she thought. He had dark hair and even darker eyes. He frowned at her.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

Almost like a cue, Sakura began crying again, remembering her predicament.

He blinked, startled and slightly panicked. "H-hey -"

"Th-they said my forehead was a-abnormal," she hiccuped. "They were m-mean t-to me."

He frowned again. "Who are they?" he asked.

Sakura sniffed and shook her head. "I... I don't know..."

"Do they know you?"

She shook her head again. "I..." she hiccuped. "No."

"Hn." He offered her his handkerchief again. This time, she took it.

"Thank you," she said softly.

They stayed like this for a while; her crying on the ground and him standing in front of her.

After a while, she spoke again. "They hate m-me," she said softly.

"No, they don't," he said.

Jade met black. "H-how do you know?"

"Because they don't know you," he shrugged and looked away. "Nii-chan says you can never really hate anyone unless you know them."

Sakura opened her mouth to ask him to explain when a tall woman with long, dark hair came calling.

"Sasuke! Where are you?"

The boy looked at the direction of the voice and then back at her. "I have to go," he said before turning around.

He was already halfway when she realized she still held his handkerchief in her hands. "Y-your handkerchief!" she called.

The boy paused and looked at her through the corner of his eyes. "Keep it," he said and he started walking again.

_Sasuke._

Sakura was seven when she found out his name.

* * *

Two months after their encounter in the marketplace, Sasuke's probation was lifted. As a result, Naruto (ever the hyper-active party-goer that he was) threw a huge party at his behalf. Almost everyone he knew attended – there were some he didn't, not that he didn't care because the only thing he did was sit in a corner and glare at nothing in particular. _Almost _everyone he knew. Of _course, _the day Uchiha Sasuke was proclaimed a Konoha ninja again was also the day Sakura decided to take an overtime at the hospital.

Sasuke scowled. The girl was obviously avoiding him, so why not just say "No, I can't attend because Sasuke would be there"?

Not that he cared what she thought about him, anyway.

Not that he cared about the way she stiffened around him, or the way she balled her small hands into fists whenever he was near, or the way she glared at his general direction.

"_I mean why are you back in _Konoha_?"_

Sasuke pressed his lips into a thin line. He killed Orochimaru, he killed Itachi (and regretted it afterwards), threatened to destroy Konoha (_that _he regretted too), killed Danzo, saw his already dead brother die again, killed Uchiha Madara, killed Yakushi Kabuto... he had done all that was needed to be done.

Except...

"_Where else would I be_?"

Ay, yes. Where else would he be, if not here?

"_Welcome home._"

Home...

Uchiha Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed before he decided he'd had enough for the night. He quietly rose from his seat and started walking away from "his" party.

He was here because Konoha was his home.

But he knew he wasn't at all welcomed.

… at least, not by her.

* * *

**_II._**

Sasuke's childhood ended when he was eight years old. His innocence was wiped away the moment he saw the bloodied figures of his mother and father (and uncle and aunt and cousins and _everyone - ) _and the face of his own brother as he let him live.

"_Avenge them."_

And he became the avenger.

He cut himself off from everyone – from his old friends from school, from his classmates, from the people who sympathized for his loss – from _all._ He had sworn to himself that he would come stronger and kill the very person who brought him to this very fate.

_Cut. Slash. Dodge. Burn._

He swore to become better.

_Dodge. Slash. Throw. Dodge._

He swore to become stronger.

_Throw. Cut. Slash. Burn._

Sasuke was eight when he swore to kill him.

Three months after his probation was lifted, he received his first official S-ranked mission. It _seemed _simple – assassinate the leader of a rouge ninja group in the Grass Country and put a stop to their mischief. But, of course, it wasn't ranked S for no reason – said group were experts with poisons. Deadly, powerful poisons that cause strong hallucinations and death. He had been lucky enough to succeed, but he ventured back with his head spinning and his vision blurring. It was a scratch. It was _only _a _damn _scratch for God's sake, but he felt like utter and complete _shit_.

He ran as steadily as he could back to Konoha.

_Just a little bit more_...

He had passed the gates – at least he thought so; his vision was getting the better of him and he now heard strange ringing in his left ear.

He concentrated chakra on his feet as he jumped towards the roofs.

_Where the hell were the fucking guards_?

He felt his body swaying momentarily before catching himself again. He had to go to the hospital. He had to -

"Ugh," he groaned as he clutched his head in pain.

_Shit. Make it stop. Fuck, fuck, fuck -_

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke forced his eyes open, but everything was suddenly so bright. He groaned again, pulling his hair from his scalp.

"What happened?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder blade, but the contact felt like fire.

He flinched away.

_It burns. Make it stop -_

"Sasuke..."

_Fuck fuck fuck - _

"Shh - you're gonna be okay."

He opened his eyes again, and all he saw was black.

Sakura had just gone from the hospital from another overnight shift. She had excessive paperwork these days, she felt like her head was going to explode. She jumped from roof to roof towards her apartment window (this way was faster than that stupid, always-busted apartment door) when a figure sanding by her window stopped her. She reached for her kunai pouch before she realized she didn't have it with her.

Sakura inwardly cursed herself. Oh well, she could always use her brute strength.

She slowly approached the figure when she heard a strangled groan from it.

_Wait a minute, is that - _

"Sasuke?"

He looked up weakly, but then he groaned again, clutching his raven-dark locks.

Despite her obvious resentment towards the person, her medical instincts took over.

"What happened?"

He was sweating, she noted. From the way he looked at her a while ago and the way his eyelids fluttered, it looked like he was also suffering from mild hallucination. There was a slight graze on the back of his left hand and other than that, he seemed okay. Other than that, he seemed okay. So what was wrong with him?

She put a lightly put a hand on his left shoulder, but he flinched it away, like it pained.

It was then she noticed the angry red rashes that were all over his left arm.

_Shit_.

"Sasuke..." Sakura bit her lip as she reached her hand to his forehead, gathering enough chakra to numb his senses and render him unconscious. "Shh – you're gonna be okay."

She waited until his rapid breathing slowed to normal before she reached out for him and took him inside.

* * *

**_III._**

Sakura was nine when she first saw him cry. It was right about dusk when she passed by an old playground eating ice cream. She stopped at her tracks when she saw him. He was standing in the middle of the playground, eyes watching the orange-violet sky when a single tear fell from his left eye.

Sakura couldn't find any strength to move. Uchiha Sasuke – orphan at age eight, now age nine was alone... much like she had been when he found her crying.

But she knew very well that those were two very different cases. She cried her heart out for more than an hour because she was teased and he... he cried _one _drop of tear – _just one drop –_ even after his whole family died.

Sakura clenched her left fist, her forgotten ice cream dripping down her right hand.

He was the strongest person she had ever met.

And she would always, _always _look up to him.

Sakura was nine when she first fell in love.

* * *

Sasuke slowly opened his onyx eyes. His first thought was that he wasn't in so much pain anymore and his second thought was _where the hell am I_?

Slowly, he sat up, looking at the room he was in. It was plain, with no decorations. Just a single bed, a dresser and a closet. There were two doors. Sasuke assumed one led to the bathroom.

Sasuke put a hand on his throbbing head.

What had happened?

He remembered arriving at Konoha... and then he remembered excruciating pain. And someone was there... he didn't know who, but someone saw him. But why wasn't he in the hospital? Why was he in somebody else's room?

Again, _where the hell was he?_

"Oh good, you're awake," a voice interrupted his train of thoughts. He knew that voice!

Standing by the bathroom door was Sakura, wiping her hands with a clean white sheet of cloth. She looked at him expectantly.

"Well? Are you feeling better?" she asked, her voice impassive and betraying nothing.

"Where am I? What happened? How – how did you -"

"You were standing by my apartment window last night when I found you. You were poisoned. I haven't seen that kind of poison before, you're lucky there wasn't that much in your system. It was pretty strong," she said, slowly walking towards him and handing him a glass of water and a capsule.

Sasuke looked at her, inquiring.

"It's for the headache," she replied, shrugging.

"Thanks," he muttered softly before taking the glass and medicine from her hands.

Sakura watched him take the medicine first before speaking. "I didn't have time to take you to the hospital when I saw you. I didn't have much chakra left and I had to save it to heal you. But you have to check yourself in today, just in case."

Sasuke nodded absently as he looked at the back of his left hand. There was a thin line that went from his index finger knuckle to his wrist bone. He slowly flexed his left hand, testing it.

"I had deepen the cut to extract the poison out," Sakura answered an unasked question. "It looked pretty bad."

Sasuke nodded again. "Aa." He looked up at her. "Thank you."

Sakura shrugged, looking away, her face betraying nothing. "It's my job," she replied.

It was at that moment when Sasuke noticed how tired Sakura looked. There were dark circles around her eyes and her cheekbones were more obvious than they were before. She looked tired. Exhausted, even. Sasuke wondered when the last time she had a good night's sleep was.

He felt guilty. He was part of the reason it wasn't last night.

Sasuke quietly got up and nodded to her one last time before leaving.

* * *

**_IV._**

Sasuke was ten before he started studying at the Konoha Ninja Academy. The moment he arrived, he was the talk of the whole school. Wherever he went, he heard whispers all around him, although he chose to ignore them. He was aware that they knew what happened to him and his family. He was also aware of what they thought of him.

Half of the people admired Uchiha Sasuke. He was strong, talented, intelligent and handsome. He was perfect, they said. The other half, well, they hated his guts. They said he was too arrogant for his own good and that he was making others feel sorry for him because he wanted attention.

But Sasuke didn't care what other people thought about him. He didn't want their loathing. He didn't want their adoration. He, mostly, didn't want their _pity_.

And so, Sasuke secluded himself from everyone and chose to study alone, eat alone, sit alone and train alone.

But there were also times when he'd look at his classmates laughing and sharing stories and playing and during those times, he'd feel lonely.

Sasuke was ten when he realized how truly alone he was.

* * *

Two weeks after his poisoning, Uchiha Sasuke walked into Haruno Sakura's office with his arms crossed on his chest.

"Sakura."

"Hmm? Can I help you?" she asked without so much as sparing a glance at him.

"Go home."

Sakura stopped from her scribbling and looked up at the eighteen-year old Uchiha with an incredulous look in her face. "_Excuse_ me?"

Sasuke sighed. "It's late, Sakura. Go home."

Sakura stared at the raven-haired boy, mouth slightly open in shock.

Well _that _was completely random. Who would have thought he had it in him?

"I still have work to do," Sakura answered after a moment.

"You can continue that tomorrow," he reasoned, his voice already with a slight trace of annoyance.

"You're not the boss of me," she snapped.

Sakura glared at him. Sasuke glared back. They glared for until about a minute before Sakura broke it, and decided to continue with her work.

_Why was she wasting her time with this arrogant bastard, anyway?_

After a moment, Sasuke sighed. "Sakura, you're tired. You look tired. You should go home."

Sakura gaped at him again.

_Now what was he playing at_?

"Look, Sasuke. You don't owe me anything. That helping you with the poison thing? That was my job. You don't have to feel responsible about me, okay?" she said slowly, like he was some child.

Sasuke scowled. "This isn't about that."

Sakura raised one pink eyebrow. "Then what is it about?"

"You look horrible," he replied.

Sakura glared again. "Well, _thanks_!" she said sarcastically, getting back to her work once more.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Ten minutes.

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"Go home."

"No."

"Sakura -"

"No."

"You have to go home."

"I _still _have work to do."

"Sakura."

"..."

Sigh. "Sakura..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Please?"

Sakura's head raised in surprise. Did Sasuke just say... _please_?

She watched as he sighed yet another time. "Sakura, just go home, will you?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line. She supposed she _was _rather a bit tired... and she finished more than three fourths of her work already.

Sakura sighed in resignation, gathering the papers on her desk. "_Fine_."

She looked up at Sasuke's smug expression. "But just this once!" Her eyes narrowed.

Sasuke shrugged before he walked out of her office and left.

* * *

**_V._**

Sasuke was twelve when he officially became a ninja. He had been assigned to the oddest team of all – with the yellow-haired dobe and the pink-haired annoying girl. They were an odd mix, team seven.

But what Sasuke found the oddest was their teacher. His left eye...

… he had the Sharingan.

But how? Only Uchihas had the Sharingan. Those who weren't Uchihas weren't worthy of it!

But after a while he understood – he understood the dobe's loneliness, he understood the girl's persistence and he understood why Kakashi was his teacher. He was strong. He could teach him to be strong. He could help him beat Itachi once and for all.

_I want to become stronger. I want to become stronger._

But as time passed, Naruto slowly kept up to him.

_I have to be stronger. I have to be stronger._

It was like he was taking two steps at a time.

_How? How is he stronger than I am?_

He learned his technique, Sasuke learned his.

_You are weak. Weak, weak, weak._

Why?

_Why_?

He knew it wasn't enough.

_I have to become stronger._

My bonds are making me weak.

_Break. Break. Break._

It's not enough.

_Leave. Leave. Leave._

It wasn't enough.

_Weak. Weak. Weak._

Sasuke was twelve when he broke all his bonds.

* * *

But it wasn't just that once.

Every night, when Sakura unconsciously took an overtime because of her work, he would show up demanding that she went home. During the first few days of their routine, she put up a fight, but as time passed, she would go home without so much as a word and he would leave. They continued on like this for the next three weeks until Sasuke did something out of the ordinary.

Just when Sakura started piling her paperwork and arranging them by folders (Sasuke usually left by then), Sasuke approached and help her sort out the files.

Sakura gaped at him. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You're taking too long," he replied.

Sakura opened her mouth and closed it again, deciding it was fruitless to pick a fight with the Uchiha.

But when they were finished and Sakura expected him to _really _leave, he remained standing in the middle of her office, looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well what?" she asked dumbly back.

"I'll walk you home."

* * *

**_VI._**

Sakura was twelve when she first had her heart broken. Broken by the person she looked up to the most. Broken by the person she loved the most. Broken by _him –_ Uchiha Sasuke. The last of the Uchihas. The sole survivor. The avenger.

She did everything she could – she waited for him at the gates, she confessed her love for him, she offered to come with him and she even threatened him – but all to no avail.

She couldn't convince him to come back.

Instead, she woke up the next morning, on a cold, stony bench left with only the words "thank you."

She cried for so long and grieved for as long as she could remember.

Sakura was twelve when Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha.

* * *

Of course Sakura had a favorite patient. Every doctor did. Every doctor had someone to admire. As for her, she was Ishida Ayame. Ayame had been confined in the hospital since she started her medical training. Shizune had been the one in charge of Ayame, but Sakura took her place.

Ayame had curly blond hair and green, green eyes. They weren't like Sakura's green. They were darker, more vivid, with streaks of gold and yellow. She though her eyes were pretty. Not only that, but Ayame also had the perfect smile.

She was thirteen years old suffering from an incurable disease. For years, Sakura had researched about everything related to the sickness, but she still couldn't find a cure. Even the great medical ninja Tsunade searched but to no avail. But Ayame had long accepted her fate.

"Everyone is bound to die someday," she had said to Sakura once. "So why escape what can't be escaped?"

Of course, Sakura never gave up.

She loved Ayame. She was positive, she was happy, she was strong, she was inspiring.

And so Sakura grieved when her heart finally stopped beating.

She sat behind her desk staring into nothing until Sasuke came demanding her to go home. She looked up at him, her face dull and lifeless before an array of tears came running down her face.

Sasuke's eyes widened slighly. "Sakura -"

"She's gone," Sakura said, her voice sounding broken. "Ayame's gone. I couldn't do anything. If only I worked harder – I couldn't find the cure – I couldn't... I'm _such _an idiot, why didn't I try harder?"

Sakura burried her face in her hands as she continued crying. "I couldn't do anything..."

Sakura felt a hand on her arm, pulling her to her feet. "I couldn't do anything... I'm too weak..."

"Sakura..." came Sasuke's soft voice as he pulled her into him.

"I couldn't do anything..."

Sasuke hushed her softly as she continued sobbing in his arms.

)

broken

glass

and

broken

_lives_

**tbc**


	2. I will pick up the broken pieces,

_But bodies cut with broken glass,  
Are better prone to healing,  
While broken lives leave deeper scars,  
The scars they try concealing._

we

will

**walk**

until

it

does

not

hurt

anymore

(

Sakura worked extra hard after that. She now spent most of her time in the hospital, working for a cure for Ayame's disease. The only time she ever left the hospital was when she needed a change of clothes and a bath.

Sasuke narrowed his onyx eyes at the sight before him.

He had only been gone for a week and Sakura had already dropped so much weight. Her cheekbones were more evident in her face now and she looked paler than usual – they no longer had the faint pink glow they had before. There were also deep, purple bags below her eyes. For a doctor, Sasuke noted, Sakura looked terribly sickly.

"Sakura."

Sakura's pink head snapped up in surprise. She hadn't even noticed him coming in!

"Oh, Sasuke! You're back from your mission," she said, smiling slightly. "How did it go?"

"It was fine," he said flatly, refusing to engage in small talk. "It's late. Go home."

Sakura shook her head. "I can't. Not yet. I'm not yet done."

Sasuke glared at her stubbornness. Her constant fawning over him before he left might have changed, but her iron will didn't. "Sakura," he started, his tone sounding like a warning.

"No, Sasuke." She glared back.

"You're tired. Go home," he ordered, crossing his arms in his chest.

"I'm fine!" Sakura scoffed. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder why you care in the first place! I doubt it's about the time I treated your poisoning before. If it was, you would've stopped a long time ago! So why, Sasuke?"

Sasuke grunted in response before he looked away. "I just do. Go home," he repeated.

Sakura was down-right angry now. "You just _do_? What do you know about caring anyway, huh? You left us. You left _me_! You tried to kill everyone that's important to me! You can't expect me to come back here and have me welcome you in my arms! So what's your ulterior motive?" she snapped.

And when she saw Sasuke's black eyes narrow ever-so-slightly, she immediately regretted it.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Sasuke," she softly said, looking away. It was a terrible thing to say. Of course he knew that he left! Of course he didn't expect her to welcome him right away. That's why he was _trying_! How could she say all those things?

"I... didn't mean..." she trailed off. She knew as well as he did that she also half meant what she said. _God_, she was an idiot. "I'm sorry... I'm just tired – but I have to finish this. I can't go home yet."

Sasuke was silent for a while, his emotionless face looking down at her. "Aa," he said after a moment's pause.

Sakura waited for him to leave, but he didn't. "Sasuke?" came her inquiry.

Sasuke looked out the window silently before he spoke. "I'll wait until you're done." He paused. "Then, I'll take you home."

Sakura looked at him like he had just grown another head. She then cleared her throat when she composed herself again. "Sasuke, it's going to take long before -"

"I don't care," he said, shrugging. Sakura's emerald eyes looked at him in puzzlement for a moment before she smiled.

She smiled because she was happy.

And she was happy because she knew that in his own ways, Sasuke was telling her that he cared and that he was sorry.

* * *

**_VII._**

Sasuke was thirteen when he thought about his former teammates again. It was also at that moment when he decided that in a way, he missed them. He missed Naruto being an idiot and he missed Sakura being annoying.

Not that he would admit to anyone that.

After all, for someone like him, there had to be no room for regrets.

He sought out power because he needed power. He needed to avenge his clan. He needed to kill his brother. And to do that, he had to leave them.

And so, he continued training harder and harder each day with a silent promise that he would be back someday to Konoha where he would rebuild his clan and restore its former glory.

_No matter how long it takes._

* * *

Sakura awoke the next day feeling lightheaded and groggy. She looked at her surroundings – she was at her apartment. But... how did she get there?

Vaguely, she remembered the events from the night before. She was in the office with Sasuke. He told her he'd wait for her. And then she closed her eyes for a minute and – damn it, she must've fallen asleep!

She felt heat rush to her cheeks as she realized something. Sasuke must've carried her back in here.

Sakura mentally slapped herself.

From the moment Sasuke arrived, she made it a point to avoid him as much as possible for she dreaded the moment when her childhood feelings would resurface again when she was around her. So many things had happened already – Sasuke waged war against Konoha, Sakura fought against him – they were broken beyond repair. And she knew that no matter how hard she tried to put the pieces back together, she would never get back what they once were back then.

When life was so simple.

When Sasuke still smiled.

The pink-haired girl sighed and looked at the clock on her bedside table.

**10:30 am**.

"Shit!" she cursed loudly before jumping off her bed.

She was late!

* * *

**_VIII._**

Sakura was thirteen when she decided she was done playing on the sidelines.

She was done asking Naruto for help.

She was done crying.

She was done feeling sorry for something she couldn't do.

She was done being _weak_.

And so with courage she walked up to the Hokage tower and bowed respectfully in front of the Godaime.

"Please take me as your apprentice."

* * *

She arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later after she washed up and changed her clothes. She hadn't even bothered eating in her haste.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" she said, catching her breath once she was at the hospital lobby.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?" a woman in her mid-thirties looked at her quizzically. She had brown hair that went up to her waist and amber eyes that rivaled the Godaime's.

"Ame," she said, laughing slightly. "I'm here for work, silly!"

Ame blinked twice before laughing, too. "Oh, no need. You can go rest now. The Godaime said you could take a day off."

Sakura frowned. A day off? For what? She normally got a day off when she was needed on a mission the next day.

"Oh," she said. "I'll be talking to Shishou then. I might be needed on a mission. Ja, Ame!"

"Bye, Sakura-chan!" she brown-haired woman called back at her retreating figure.

* * *

"Tsunade-shishou!" she called the moment she arrived at the Hokage's office.

The Godaime looked up from her paperwork to her former apprentice. "Hm? Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"I was given a day off today. Am I needed for a mission tomorrow?" she asked, worry evident in her tone. For one thing, Sakura never took her missions lightly. Especially when they required healing procedures and medical ninjutsu.

Tsunade raised one pale eyebrow as she studied the seventeen-year-old kunoichi. "My, that Uchiha boy was right!"

Sakura blinked in surprise. "What?"

Tsunade sat back and crossed her arms. "Well, just this morning, a very angry Uchiha came running to my office demanding you take a day off because you've been overworking yourself. Can't say he wasn't right, though. You look like you need a good night's rest."

Sakura felt anger bubbling up inside her now. Okay, this was too much. Sasuke had _no right _to meddle with her business like that! "I'm fine, Shishou! I needed to work harder. I needed to find out what was wrong with Ayame so that -"

"Ayame?" Sakura stopped in mid-sentence. "Is that what this is all about?"

Sakura's emerald orbs faltered for a second before she sighed and looked away.

"Sakura," Tsunade started warningly, "in our kind of job, these things happen. There are things that we can't do anything about. People die, Sakura. It's inevitable. It's reality."

"But if I can produce a cure, I can prolong their lives and save them!" Sakura reasoned.

"Not this way, Sakura. If you overwork yourself, you get sick. Nobody wants a sick healer now don't they?" she asked giving Sakura a hard look.

When Sakura didn't answer, Tsunade took it as a sign to continue. "Now, I want you to take the rest of the day off and get your head together, okay? No, scratch that. Take the rest of the _week_ off. Train with Naruto or something. And _rest_. Okay?"

"But, Shishou -"

"No buts, Sakura," Tsunade said dismissively. "Now off you go."

And Sakura went.

* * *

**_IX._**

Sasuke was fourteen when he equaled Orochimaru's strength. He also knew that it was only a matter of time before he surpassed the Snake Sannin and carry out his destiny.

Sasuke idly sharpened his kusanagi with a kunai blade.

_Yes_, he thought. _Soon._

* * *

Later that day, Sasuke saw Sakura at the Market Place talking to Hyugga Neji.

His onyx eyes narrowed considerably as they followed them as Sakura talked animatedly about something.

Sasuke scoffed as he looked at the Hyuuga. Something about him irked him so... other than the fact that he was talking with so much familiarity around Sakura, that is.

Grunting, he decided he didn't want anything to do with them and started to walk away when his hearing picked up.

"Sometimes I don't know what to make of Sasuke," came Sakura's voice.

Sasuke stopped at his tracks. They were talking about him.

"I mean, I know he looks out for me, but he just makes me so angry sometimes! Like now! I can't believe he went to Shishou like that! I don't need a day off," she said, frowning and shaking her head.

"Well, I think he's actually right this time, Sakura-san," Neji replied. "You really need to rest. You've been working too hard lately. Naruto's been constantly looking for you."

Sakura paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Yeah, okay. Maybe I really _do _need to take a break. Thanks, Neji-kun."

Neji_... kun_?

It was at that moment when Sasuke decided that he's heard enough.

Not at all subtly, he stepped in front of Sakura's petite frame and looked at her with stoic eyes. "Sakura."

There was a flash of anger in Sakura's eyes, but she suppressed it quickly. "Sasuke," she said in the same way he said her name.

Neji looked at the two with an amused expression before smirking to himself. "Well, Sakura-san," he said, turning to the pink-haired kunoicihi. "I think I'll be going now."

Sakura looked at Neji and waved. "Okay then. Neji-kun," she said in a cheerful tone she never used towards Sasuke. "It was nice talking to you!"

Neji nodded politely at the Uchiha before he prodded away fromm them.

Sakura glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared back.

"_You_," Sakura seethed. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"How could _you _meddle with _my _business like that!" she said, her voice rising in anger.

Sasuke scoffed. "You should look at yourself in the mirror. You look like hell, Sakura," he replied bluntly.

"You have no right tell me what to do!"

"Oh, and I suppose that Hyuuga can? I didn't hear you put up a fuss when he told you that you needed to rest."

Sakura opened her mouth and closed it again in complete bewilderment. "You _listened _to our conversation? How _could _you!" she screeched. People from all around them were shooting them quizzical glances now. They were used to Sakura's temper when it was directed to her former teammate, Naruto, but to Uchiha _Sasuke_? Unheard of!

"Believe me. I wish I hadn't," he said in mild disgust. Her smiling face and her _Neji-kun _crossed his mind again and so very much wanted to punch something now.

"_You_ – ugh!" Sakura raised both her hands in the air in frustration. "I _hate _you!"

Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed. "That wasn't what you said to me before."

Sakura's icy gaze faltered a bit as she pressed her lips together.

Sasuke immediately regretted what he said.

It was a low blow.

Because he knew.

That he should never...

"Fine then."

..._ever_...

"See you around, Sasuke-_kun_."

...take her feelings for granted.

And as he watched Sakura's retreating figure, he wanted to take her hand and stop her from leaving.

_Great going, jerk._

* * *

**_X._**

Sakura was fourteen when she passed the Chunnin exam with flying colors. She grinned to herself as she tied her red hitai-ate around her head and looked at herself in the mirror.

_I want to be stronger. I have to be stronger._

She dropped her hands to her sides and clenched her fists tight.

_I will bring you back, Sasuke-kun!_

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke found himself tossing and turning in his bed that night. Every now and then a certain pink-haired girl would invade his thoughts and his heart would constrict painfully.

_Damn this, _he thought as he sat upright and ran his fingers through his hair.

It was one-thirty in the morning and he doubted she'd be awake.

But he knew she had to see her.

When Sasuke arrived at Sakura's apartment window, the first thing that he noticed was that the lights were on.

_Stubborn girl,_ he mused, quietly opening her window. (He made a mental note of scolding her about leaving her windows open some other time.)

He found her sitting on her living room, holding a stack of paper in her hands and an abnormally huge book was opened in her table.

"You were given a day off for a reason," he said, Sakura's head snapping up in surprise.

"Sasuke?" she gaped at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why are you still awake?"

Emerald met onyx. "I should ask you the same question!"

"Go to sleep, Sakura," he ordered, unfazed.

"How did you get in here?"

"Sakura -" he started warningly.

"No, Sasuke!" Sakura interrupted. "I'm done with you. You don't own me so stop ordering me around like I'm some kind of _pet_!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're overreacting. Now go to sleep."

"No, Sasuke," Sakura repeated. "Not until I find out why you're so insistent in doing this."

They stared at each other for a long time. _Why _was he doing this anyway? Why did he care? Why did he want her to rest? Why did he want to take her in his arms whenever he looked at her thin frame? Why did he think of her every night? Why, why _why_?

"_I love you with all my heart, Sasuke-kun!"_

"_Please take me with you!"_

_Sakura – Twelve. ._

"_Stop it, Sasuke-kun."_

_Sakura – Twelve. Her face pressed against his back._

"_You're scaring me."_

_Sakura – Twelve. Hugging him._

"_I'm so glad you're okay!"_

_Sakura – Fifteen. Standing before Karin's body._

"_Take me with you, Sasuke-kun."_

_Sakura – Sixteen. Fighting against him._

"_I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun."_

_Sakura – Seventeen. Looking at him as he stood near the Konoha gates._

"_Sasuke."_

_Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke._

"_Welcome home."_

"Sasuke," Sakura put him out of his daze. His onyx eyes looked at her eyes once more.

They were silent again – until Sakura sighed.

"Forget it. I'll do whatever I want, Sasuke," she said her voice sounding tired. "You can't stop me."

Sasuke frowned.

"_You can't stop me, Sakura."_

She sat turned away and stared at her paperwork, her expression unreadable.

"_If you leave, I'll scream!"_

"Sakura."

Sakura looked at his eyes again, anger evident all over her face. "_What,_ Sasuke? Why won't you just leave me alone?"

Sasuke's fists clenched. "Because."

"Because _what, _Sasuke?"

"Because."

And he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers.

)

_one_**  
**

broken

glass**  
**

and

one

broken

_life_

at

a

time**  
**

**tbc  
**


	3. one by one,

_Now, broken glass is visible,  
But broken lives are hidden,  
Their blood can run for all to see,  
But "feelings" are forbidden. _

we

have

scattered

all

the

**broken**

pieces

everywhere

(

_**XI.**_

Sakura was fifteen when she heard his voice again. His voice was different.

"Ah... Sakura."

She slowly looked up and saw his towering figure.

He was looking down at them – Naruto, Sai and her.

He was taller, she noted. And bigger.

_Sasuke-kun! _

It was really him. It was _her _Sasuke-kun, she thought -

Until Uchiha Sasuke jumped down and started to attack her best friend.

She could only stare in horror at this person.

_Sasuke_...

..._kun_?

* * *

He punched the glass with so much force that it shattered and his fist bled.

How could he have been so _stupid_?

Why did he kiss her?

She shouldn't have – it wasn't right. Why had he done it?

_You already know the answer_, a voice inside him said.

He stared at his shattered reflection – his faces in all the big and small pieces of glass. Yes, he already knew the answer, but he refused to admit it to himself because he knew that it was wrong.

He clenched his fists to his sides, blood dripping down his knuckles.

It was _wrong_.

* * *

_**XII.**_

Sasuke was fifteen when he killed the snake sannin.

He knew it was coming, though. And he knew it would happen sooner or later – Orochimaru wanting to take over his body, that it.

Uchiha Sasuke scoffed inwardly. As if he was going to allow that to happen. He wasn't going to extract his revenge that way.

And so, he walked in Orochimaru's bedroom and killed him for good.

_You're next..._

He put his kusanagi back in its sheath.

..._Itachi_.

* * *

Sakura hummed to herself as she walked along the roads of Konoha that day. She awoke in such a good mood that morning and judging by how things were going, _nothing_ can take her good mood away from her.

She giggled to herself as she recalled the events from the night before. Sasuke had kissed her, much to her surprise. She would have retorted at how he so suddenly pulled away and murmured 'annoying' and disappeared out of the window.

She carefully examined the stack of tomatoes before her, picking one after another, making sure everything she took and paid for would be nothing but ripe and juicy.

"Oi! Sakura-chaaaan!"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked up to see her blond-haired teammate trotting towards her.

"Hi, Naruto!" she greeted cheerfully.

Naruto gave her his trademark grin. "You're in a good mood today, Sakura-chan," Naruto commented bringing both his hands behind his head.

"Mmm," Sakura said in acceptance as she added a ripe, red tomato to her basket.

Today was also day two of her week-long vacation and she was thinking of cooking something for Sasuke – a thank you gift for his concern for her for the past few weeks.

She wondered what kind of tomato dishes he liked –

"Sasuke-temeeeee!"

Sakura's head immediately shot up at the sound of his name. She looked at where Naruto was enthusiastically waving and gave him a smile of her own.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" she greeted once he was near.

Sasuke blatantly ignored her and kept on walking past Naruto and Sakura.

But Sakura refused to give up. _Nothing _can take her good mood away.

"Sasuke-kun, are you available today? I was thinking of cooking lunch for the old Team 7, since I don't have anything else to do," she called out to his retreating figure.

"Eh? Does that mean I'm invited, too, Sakura-chan? Let's come over, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto backed up.

Without so much as a glance back their way, Sasuke muttered a low, "I'm busy" as he continued walking away from his former teammates and not once looking back at Naruto's consistent, persistent squabbles.

She frowned.

Haruno Sakura stood corrected.

* * *

_**XIII**_**.**

Sasuke was sixteen when he cried for the first time in years.

"_I'm sorry, little brother."_

He killed him.

He killed his brother.

And because of a wrong reason.

"..._But there will be no next time."_

_Fuck_.

He looked up at the gray sky, droplets of water dripping down his face.

"I'm going -"

He swears on his brother's grave.

"- to destroy Konoha."

_I no longer have a home._

* * *

"Sasuke."

The Uchiha didn't stop walking. He was very much aware that a very annoyed Haruno Sakura was trailing after him and that she was already catching up.

Balling his hands into fists, he started walking faster.

"Sasuke," she called again, but he still didn't slow down.

Faintly, he heard Sakura sigh from behind him.

"Sasuke-_kun_."

He stopped.

"_I love you with all my heart, Sasuke-kun!"_

Ever-so-slowly, he turned around to face her determined expression.

"Why are you avoiding me, Sasuke-kun?" came her question.

_Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun._

"I'm not avoiding you, Sakura." He dwelt on how her name rolled out of his tongue when he said it – like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I told you - I'm busy."

Sakura's hard gaze faltered a bit. "Listen, Sasuke, about last night..." she trailed off and he watched her look away as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Well – uh -"

"Sakura, I did it to shut you up." _Liar. You liar_.

Her emerald eyes looked back at him. "Y-you did?"

"You were being stubborn and annoying," he deadpanned. "You didn't think anything else of it, did you?"

Sakura's cheeks reddened again. Then, she opened her mouth and closed it again. _Bull's eye_.

"Of course I didn't!" she seethed. She looked away again. "I was going to ask if we could forget about it."

His onyx eyes narrowed. "Fine."

"Fine."

They glared at each other for a while and as much as Sasuke wanted to look away, he couldn't because he was so enchanted by those _green, green _eyes. In the end, it had been Sakura who broke it first.

"See you around, then, Sasuke," she said, turning around and walking back to the direction she came from.

_Sasuke_.

He wanted to stop her. He wanted to grab her wrists and turn her around and make her face him again.

But he can't.

He shouldn't.

He clenched his fists.

Because by his belief, the more he distanced herself from her, the more protected she was.

* * *

_**XIV.**_

_**1.**_

Sakura was sixteen when she told Uzumaki Naruto that she loved him.

She wasn't lying of course – she loved her best friend. But he was only her best friend.

Nonetheless, she needed to distract him to do what she was about to do.

And so, when they least expected it, Sakura put her teammates to sleep.

_Nobody_ could stop her.

Sakura was sixteen when she realized that _her_ Sasuke-kun was no more.

* * *

Sakura was in the middle of reading in her apartment when a knock came at her door. Hear head snapped up immediately.

_Has Sasuke come back to apologize_?

Warily, Sakura stood up from her chair and walked towards the door, ready to reprimand her former teammate when a different face looked back at him.

"Sakura-san."

Emerald eyes blinked. "Neji-kun," she said back, slightly astonished. "What can I do for you?"

An expression of seriousness was present in his face and Sakura immediately knew that his visit was not to be taken lightly. "The Hokage summons you to her office," he said. "She says it is urgent."

Sakura nodded.

* * *

_**2.**_

"I'll do whatever you want me to do. I don't want to have any more regrets -"

"Do you know... what I want?"

Sakura froze. His voice.

Sasuke...

..._kun_?

"It doesn't matter," she pressed on. _Stall him. Let him take his guard down. Kill him. _"I'll do whatever you say -"

"I want to destroy Konoha_**." **_He was glaring at her now. He was challenging her. "That is what I want."

Sakura said nothing in shock. Destroy... Konoha?

"Would you really betray Konoha for me?"

Sakura swallowed. "Yes," she said. _Just a little bit further_. "If that is what you want me to do."

"Then prove it," he said. "If you kill her, I'll let you come with me."

She stared at his bloodied face and at his cold eyes.

_Eyes as cold as his heart._

_And heart as cold as ice._

"I have no use of her anymore."

Sakura looks down at the body before her. It was a girl. It was the girl from Sasuke's _other_ team. Her long, red hair was scattered along the ground.

_Hair as red as blood._

Sakura clenched her fists and loosened it. Ever-so-slowly, she reached for her kunai pocket. Slowly, she crouched down to the bleeding girl.

_If I... kill Sasuke-kun now, everything will be over._

No.

You're wrong.

Sakura watched the girl open her mouth slightly. "Sasuke... stop..."

Sakura's emerald eyes widened.

_Sasuke-kun's already dead_.

* * *

"Tsunade-shishou, what's happening?"

The Hokage's amber eyes looked back at her former apprentice's emerald ones. "Sakura, I need your help. The shonobi I recently sent to Kusakagure got back today bearing grave news. Apparently, Grass is formulating a new jutsu from Orochimaru's old researches. From what they have gathered, this has something to do with a poison that messes with the mind of whoever has it in their body. I have extracted the poison from one of the escaped Kusakagure subjects that was brought back to us, but..."

Tsunade trailed off as she looked away and Sakura's lips were pressed into a thin line. "What happened to him, Shishou?"

Amber eyes flickered up again. "Well, I think it's best if I show it to you," she said, standing up and signaling Sakura to follow.

The two of them walked quietly out of the room and into the hallway until they arrived at the last room in the hall. Sakura immediately realized the cruciality of the situation – Tsunade _never _kept a patient in the Hokage Tower. _Never_.

Sakura swallowed as her former teacher opened the door. Sakura craned her neck to take a look.

In the room was a bed and in the bed was a girl no older than she was. She was beautiful, Sakura noted. She had auburn, wavy hair that wept past her mid-back and jarring blue eyes that glinted in the sunlight coming from the small window beside her bed. Physically, there was nothing wrong with the girl. She had no injuries left; Tsunade must have taken care of those, then. But the only thing that struck her odd was the way she was acting – the girl had her legs pressed to her chest and she was hugging it while swinging back and forth.

Sakura stared at her.

_Back and forth_.

"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a -"

_Back and forth_.

The girl paused in mid-song and looked up at her two new visitors. _- pail of water._

She smiled.

_Back and forth_.

But it wasn't at all an assuring smile. There was something... _off _about her.

"Hello," she said, her blue eyes wide and innocent.

Sakura couldn't find it in her to speak, so Tsunade answered for the two of them. "Hello, Kure," she said, stepping closer to the girl.

The girl – Kure's – smile grew wider. "Do you know what happened to Jack and Jill?" she asked. _Jack fell down and broke his crown -_

_Back and forth_.

Tsunade completely ignored her question. "How are you feeling today?"

"Hmm... better," Kure mused, her fingers finding her lips, and she was still for a while, but the moment passed as quickly as it came and she was back to swinging her body again.

_Back and forth_.

"What happened to Jack and Jill?" came her question again. - _and Jill came tumbling after._

_Back and forth_.

Tsunade glanced at Sakura's way with a grim expression and Sakura answered for the girl. "They stumbled down the hill, Kure," she said.

The auburn-haired girl looked at her as she said this. "Who did?" she asked; she seemed to have forgotten about the question she had asked. _La lalala lala la -_

_Back and forth._

Sakura tightened her jaw.

Tsunade, seeing as it was enough for Sakura to realize what happened to the girl, told her that it was time to go and told Kure that she'll be seeing her soon again – Kure made no reaction to this.

Tsunade nodded once at Sakura and made her way out of the room. - _la lalala la la -_

It was only when Sakura was about to close the door did she hear the girl's voice again.

"Jack and Jill didn't stumble down," she said and blue met emerald. "Jack and Jill died."

_La lalala lala la – and Jill came tumbling after._

* * *

_**3.**_

Sakura noticed Sasuke's momentary lapse.

He was crouching, clutching his eyes as if they were burning and Sakura took this as a chance to creep behind him unnoticed.

She focused her chakra to her feet and walked towards him, up-side down, as she brought her poisoned kunai to his back.

Her hands shook.

Right at the Uchiha Crest embedded on his clothing.

_I can't... do it._

And tears fell.

_I can't..._

* * *

Tsunade looked at her seriously. "Sakura," she began. "I hope you realize that you're the only one I can count on to do this."

Sakura's fists clenched. "Yes, Tsunade-shishou. I know," she said.

"What this mission needs is a medical ninja and I know that you can do this and you have my complete faith in your ability," Tsunade continued, unfazed by Sakura's brave front.

"Yes, Shishou," she replied.

Tsunade examined Sakura quietly. She knew that she could do it and she knew that of all the shinobi in Konoha, Sakura was the most fit for the mission. But Tsunade also knew the dangers that accompanied it with so little that they know about the proceedings in Kumo.

"You know, you can decline if you want to," the Godaime Hokage said in a soft voice.

Sakura stiffened in surprise at this and Tsunade thought she saw an expression of relief on the pink-haired kunoichi's face, but it was gone as soon as it arrived.

And so, Sakura, who drew a deep breath, spoke again.

"I'll do it, Hokage-sama."

* * *

_**XV.**_

_**1.**_

Sasuke was seventeen when he looked at the mirror and found that he didn't like what he was seeing.

His eyes were downcast and dull and he knew this was only because he realized that there was no reason in him living anymore.

He felt alone – more alone than when he was a child. Because, he knew, that even if he felt alone then, he wasn't.

But now...

He looked straight at his eyes.

...he was.

_What are you living for, Uchiha Sasuke?_

* * *

"Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke's onyx eyes narrowed and he stiffened. He knew it was only Naruto, but he couldn't believe that he was unable to notice him coming. He must've been more lost in his thoughts than he thought.

"Hey, Teme, what's up with a while ago?" Naruto asked, a frown forming in his face.

Sasuke looked at him with an eyebrow up. "What?" he asked, having no idea what his best friend was talking about.

Naruto's face darkened and there was a flicker of annoyance as he answered. "About Sakura-chan, teme!" - Sasuke stiffened at the sound of her name - "For so long since you've been back, you've been bent on seeing her again!" - Sasuke's mouth opened in protest – _He was not!_ - but Naruto was quick to continue. - "And don't you dare deny that you weren't because I see you looking around whenever we're eating out or training."

Sasuke frowned. He wouldn't deny this. But, of course, he had been only looking around to make sure that there was no one around that he didn't like and -

Sasuke inwardly growled at himself.

- _and _he was hoping that someway, somehow, when he came back to Konoha, everything would be back to normal.

That _she_ and the dobe would always be present, just like old times.

But of course it hadn't.

Coming back to Konoha didn't mean that the cache of bad things he'd done in the past would be wiped clean.

Of course not.

He only thought it would be much easier to build broken bonds again, but it turned out he was wrong.

_Of course he was_.

"You have to talk to her now, Teme," Naruto said.

Sasuke quickly dismissed the blond's suggestion. He was in no mood to be talking to anyone today, let alone Sakura. "I'll talk to her some other time."

"If you do that, you'll be waiting for a while year!" Naruto stomped his right foot in impatience.

Sasuke's head shot up. "What?"

Naruto was looking more serious now. "You know how I put bugs on Tsunade-baa-chan's office to hear about new missions?" he asked.

"Just get to the point, Dobe," Sasuke muttered in impatience.

Naruto took a deep breath.

"Sakura-chan's going on a year-long S-ranked mission, Teme."

* * *

_**2.**_

Sasuke was on his way to no where when Naruto saw him again.

"Sasuke," he had said. No expression of relief. No expression of determination. No stupid _teme_ attached.

"Naruto," he replied. "I suppose you're going to want to take me back to Konoha with you?"

A familiar lopsided grin crossed his ex-team mate's face and Sasuke felt a little nostalgia coming along. "Are you going to come with me without putting off a fight?" he asked, following an offensive stance.

Sasuke did this, too, as he smirked. "Not a chance."

* * *

Sasuke waited by the Konoha gates, beside the stone bench closest to it.

Sasuke's jaw clenched at this. He had always hated this bench. It brought back to many memories – here was where she stood by when he left, here was when they stood when he went back and here was where he was standing now that she's leaving.

A pink-haired figure came across his vision and he immediately straightened.

Once Sakura noticed Sasuke's presence, she stopped walking to look at him straight in the eye.

They were silent for a while. And when Sasuke realized that Sakura had no intention of striking at a conversation, he spoke. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice even and still betraying nothing.

"I didn't think you cared," she replied, her voice equally as hard.

They stared at each other again.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" she asked, her voice slightly faltering.

"Why are you taking this mission?" he countered, anger bubbling up.

"Why should I not?" Sakura's voice was raised and frustration was evident in her face. "I'm not _weak, _Sasuke. I can do this, no matter how much you think I can't."

"I don't!" Then, he added in a much softer voice. "And I don't think you're weak, Sakura."

Sasuke saw Sakura swallow as she looked at him in melancholy. "Then why do you make me feel like you do?" she asked.

_Because as much as you don't believe it, I care._

That was his answer.

That should have been his answer.

But, since he was Uchiha Sasuke – a frustrated, bent-on-revenge idiot he was – he didn't.

"_Why _didn't you tell me?" he repeated his first question, adding a firm tone to it.

"I told you," Sakura's green, green eyes flickered in anger again – all the sorrow it portrayed a while ago, completely washing away. "I didn't think you cared!"

"And why would you think that!" he said, not realizing it until an expression of shock crossed her features.

Sakura's face was calm again before she answered. "Why are you like this, Sasuke-kun?"

_Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun_.

Sasuke swallowed.

_Like what? _was the unspoken question.

"Why do you make me feel like you care and don't at the same time?" she continued, her voice soft, her eyes soft, just like her lips had been. And he wanted – so much – to close that gap between them.

He looked away before he lost control of himself again, just like last time.

Realizing that Sasuke would not answer her question, she nodded to herself and walked past him. A soft, "Goodbye, Sasuke-kun." escaping her lips.

Sasuke did not – _could _not – turn around to watch her go.

Again, he found himself hating this place again.

This was where he left then and there was nothing she could do.

This was where she left now and there was nothing _he_ could do.

_Oh, the irony._

)

and

one

by

one

I

will

search

for

them

**tbc**


	4. until we are whole again

_Though broken glass is beautiful,  
Its damage can be searing,  
And though some lives seem wonderful,  
A breakdown they are fearing._

one

by

one

I

will

pick

the

**broken**

pieces

up

(

Seconds ticked by and minutes passed before Uchiha Sasuke came to himself again. He clenched his fists hard, closing his eyes.

_How could you have been so stupid?_

And then, with a new-found determination in his mind, he gathered chakra to his feet and raced to the Hokage tower.

* * *

"Where did you send her?"

Amber glared back at onyx. "_Excuse me?_"

"Sakura," he said through his teeth, as he felt a familiar wave of frustration come through him. "Wheredid you send her.?"

Tsunade huffed in annoyance.

_The nerve of this boy! Only two days ago, he was here **also** acting like the lord of the earth!_

"I believe you are not authorized to know that information," Tsunade answered, crossing her arms at her chest and giving him a challenging look.

"_Where _did you send her?" he repeated the third time, unfazed.

"It's not your business to _know_, Uchiha!" the Godaime snapped at the raven-haired boy with the same icy look he was giving her.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "It's too dangerous for her to go on an S-ranked mission. You shouldn't have sent her by herself."

Tsunade scoffed. "I don't believe you have the right to tell me if or not my pupil is qualified for a job. I trained her myself. _I _should be the one to know her abilities more than anyone," she reasoned, straightening up her posture. The Uchiha was towering over her now, standing so close to her desk. And what Tsunade hated more than days without sake was when someone was towering over her. "Sakura is not _weak, _Uchiha."

"I know that!" Sasuke snapped, raising his voice.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow slightly. "Well then you should know that she will be able to accomplish this mission."

Sasuke held his gaze at the Godaime; his expression as hard as ever. "Tell me where you sent her." It wasn't a question anymore. It was an order.

Tsunade simply didn't _take_ orders.

"Why should I?"

Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides. "She can't do this alone," he said evenly, his expression unfazed.

"If I tell you, then what will you do? Go after her?" Tsunade asked, leaning forward a bit. "You _can't. _In case you've forgotten, you've already betrayed this village once. If you do anything that will suggest that you're going to do it again, you will be sent to prison – or be killed."

"I won't betray Konoha again," he said – straight, frank, _final_.

"If you go against the Hokage's orders, you will," Tsunade answered, "and my orders are stand your ground and let Sakura do her job."

His fists clenched tighter.

"At least trust Sakura with this, Sasuke."

* * *

_**XVI.**_

_**1.**_

They arrived at Konoha battered and bruised the at dusk the next day. They had spotted Naruto first (who wouldn't, with his yellow hair and orange jumpsuit?) and then Sasuke who was trailing shortly behind him – arms crossed at his chest, glaring at nothing in particular.

The two guards stationed at the tower quickly jumped in between the two shinobi and entered a fighting stance. "Shall we call for reinforcements, Naruto?" one of the ninjas asked, glaring at the Uchiha. Sasuke gave no indication of fighting back.

"Nah, it's cool," Naruto replied, grinning and putting his hands behind his head – his usual carefree pose. "Just call Sakura-chan," he continued, and then looked at Sasuke. "Tell her that the teme's back."

* * *

It had been five months since she left Konoha for her mission.

Sakura walked silently at the corridors in the skin of somebody else. It had been four months since she first infiltrated the Kusakagure laboratory, but she still knew too little about what they were planning and what kind of poison they were formulating.

But she would, she thought. She was close – _so close._ She had tried asking the other people working at the secret facility, but they, too, knew nothing more other than the fact that it was a Kusakagure secret weapon and it was going to be their ultimate ace card.

_But for what?_

Sakura idly ran a hand through her now-brown locks.

_A war?_

"Ruka! Quickly! They need assistance at the main entrance!"

Sakura stopped at her tracks. It sounded like there was something going on at the main gates of the facility. She quickly pressed her back against the stone wall and listened.

"Why? What's going on?" She recognized Ruka's voice right away – he had been one of her co-workers at the secret laboratory. They had talked once or twice.

"A body has been found," the other person said. Sakura didn't know who it was, but it sounded vaguely familiar.

"A... body? Whose?"

Sakura stiffened.

_No_.

"Kana's."

Sakura clamped a hand on her mouth.

"K-Kana? But I saw her this morni -" Ruka started, sounding alarmed.

The second person cut him short. "The one we've been seeing is an impostor."

_My cover's been blown._

Sakura willed herself to move.

_I have to get out of here before they catch me._

She turned around and ran as fast as she could, but a figure blocked her way to the exit.

Sakura stiffened.

_It... can't be._

Said figure gave her a toothy grin. "Where are you going, Kana?"

Sakura took a step backward, her fearful eyes not leaving the man before her.

"Or should I say... _Haruno Sakura_?"

_But... you're supposed to be dead!_

* * *

_**2.**_

From the corner of his eyes, Sasuke saw Sakura momentarily pause from walking. He didn't have to look at her fully to realize that she was staring at him with wild disbelief painted on her jade-green eyes.

She took a step towards them again.

Sasuke realized that he never really got the chance to study how Sakura looked like whenever they would meet. Because – as much as he hated to admit – he had been so bent on his revenge that he failed to see and understand what was right smack in front of him.

The pink-haired kunoichi halted again and took a deep breath through her nose.

_Why are you resisting?_

Another step.

_Why are you not happy?_

It was then that Naruto noticed the medic nin's presence. "Sakura-chan!" He grinned in the sunniest way possible.

Sakura smiled. In the years that Sasuke had known her, he had memorized her expressions. Sakura's smile...

"Naruto."

…was a fake smile.

Slowly, as if cautiously, Sakura turned towards the raven-haired boy. He noticed how she subtly clenched her fists – hard.

"Sasuke."

_Sasuke._

Sasuke's onyx eyes flickered towards her jade ones.

_Sasuke?_

He felt an odd clench of pain in his chest as he looked away again.

"Welcome home," Sakura said, not at all sounding happy about seeing him.

_Why?_

His fists clenched, like Sakura's did.

_Why... ?_

* * *

He took a step forward – towards the kunoichi in front of him. "May I ask," he started, his eyes crinkling as his smile widened, "what the best medical ninja of Konoha doing here?"

He saw her swallow hard, her eyes wide and auburn. He then frowned. He really didn't like seeing her looking like this.

He took quick steps forward as she took slow steps back. Slowly, he touched the tip of his right index finger against the middle of her forehead.

"Kai," he quietly said, grinning again.

Sakura's genjutsu-brown hair shrunk into short pink locks at the same moment her red-brown eyes faded into their normal green hue. Sakura stayed frozen in her spot, but the alarm in her eyes told him that she was already devising a way to escape.

He smirked.

As if he was going to let her.

"That's better," he said, commenting about her appearance. "I have to say" - he drew his finger back - "you've done a great job fooling us all for for these past months."

Sakura's pressed her lips together into a thin line, glaring at the man before her.

"I'm sorry to say, though," he continued, "that you won't be able to tell the tale."

He saw Sakura swallow. "How are you alive?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

He grinned. "Uchiha Sasuke underestimated me," he answered. "I don't die that easily. You might be Konoha's best medical ninja, Sakura, but I'm always going to be better than you.

The pink-haired kunoichi glared and gritted her teeth. "I should have known it was you..."

He grinned again.

"...Kabuto."

* * *

_**3.**_

They had already waited for two hours.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.

Kakashi had been late for an hour, but...

"Man, where's Sakura-chan? She promised she'd come!" came Naruto's loud voice.

...for somebody to be later than Kakashi...

"Perhaps she ran into an emergency at the hospital, Dickless," Sai said, lightly tracing his pencil on a white paper. Kakashi eyed the group quietly, taking his attention from his favorite book to the trio below.

...could only mean one thing.

Sasuke stood up and walked in front of Naruto's lying figure, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Let's spar," he said, his voice betraying nothing.

"Alright." Naruto sighed – a result of his disappointment – but composed himself again and grinned at the raven-haired boy. "But I won't let you win, dattebayo!"

"Hn."

_She wasn't coming._

* * *

Sakura had never experienced this much pain.

She had known pain face to face, yes – being a ninja, it was a part of her job – but she never knew that pain could be this... _painful_.

Sakura tried to stifle her scream, but to no avail. They had been going through with this for _hours_ for all she knew and the pain _never _stopped.

"This will hurt a little bit, Sakura," she heard Kabuto's even voice say as he felt him graze her arm with something sharp.

Sakura screamed again.

She couldn't see clearly anymore. Her vision was spinning and the blur she got from her tears didn't help with her sight either. What did she do to deserve this?

Kabuto sliced her skin again and she screamed.

_Stop! Stop! Make it stop!_

"Just a little bit more and you won't feel a thing," Kabuto said.

_Just kill me!_

She screamed. Her whole body was on fire. She could feel the poison running through her veins. She couldn't take the pain anymore. She couldn't, she couldn't, she couldn't -

_JUST KILL ME!_

* * *

_**4.**_

They ran unto each other three weeks later at the village market. He had spotted her pink hair a mile away.

And so, he altered his route and walked towards her.

She wasn't looking where she was going, Sasuke noted. _Good. She won't be able to walk away_.

Sasuke stopped, right in front of the walking girl.

"Ouch," she muttered softly, bumping against his hard chest. The apples that were once inside her grocery bag now sprawled on the ground at every direction. "Sorry."

Sakura raised her pink head to look at him. Apologetic green eyes hardened.

_Why are you not happy?_

Sasuke slowly bent down to pick the discarded apples, not saying a word. Sakura was quick to follow.

They were silent for a while. Sasuke basked in himself in her silent company.

Even if they weren't saying anything... at least...

"Sasuke, why are you here?" Sakura broke the silence.

"Helping you pick up your apples."

_After all, I was the one who blocked your way_, were the unsaid words.

"I mean why are you _here_," Sakura pressed, her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips curled down into a frown.

He looked at her as he picked up the last apple, raising an eyebrow. "I'm out of food," he nonchalantly replied, putting back the apples back in her bag.

Sakura groaned in frustration. "I mean why are you back in _Konoha_?" she raised her voice and threw her hands in frustration, causing the three apples on her arms to roll on the ground again.

Sasuke froze as he looked at the pink-haired kunoichi.

_Why am I here?_

Sasuke picked up the three apples and stood up, his mind wandering elsewhere. He barely caught Sakura's gaze following him suspiciously.

_Why are you here?_ a voice inside his head asked.

"Where else would I be?" he replied.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke jumped from tree to tree back to Konoha. His mission took longer than he'd expected and as much as he wanted to take extra time looking for a certain pink-haired kunoichi, he knew very well he couldn't because a little more days delay could look like he was betraying the village again.

He wouldn't do that.

He would never do it again.

Sasuke's gaze on the gates hardened.

It had been almost three months since the Hokage received a telegram from Sakura stating the progress of her mission. And while the Hokage tried her best to hide that fact, it was spread out throughout the village in an instant thanks to a certain blond boy who had a knack for bugging the Hokage's office.

In two weeks, Sakura would be declared MIA. Sasuke quietly hoped for this. Because then, a mission to rescue Sakura would be at hand.

And Sasuke would do _anything_ to be part of that mission.

Sasuke landed on the ground with a light step and walked casually towards the village gates when a yellow-haired figure quickly dashed in front of him.

"Teme!" Naruto's loud voice called.

Sasuke looked at him to glare, but the glare fell when he saw the obvious alarm in his best friend's blue eyes.

"It's Sakura-chan," Naruto began; Sasuke stiffened. "They've found her."

And Sasuke ran.

* * *

_**XII.**_

"_I mean why are you back in _Konoha_?"_

Sakura paused from her writings and groaned inwardly.

She shouldn't have said that.

She was out of line.

He was back – just like what she and Naruto wanted. So why did she have to question him like that? For all she knew, he could have taken it as a sign that she didn't want him here.

_Well, do you?_

Of course she did.

But a lot has changed since they were genin.

Sasuke had changed.

Team seven had changed.

_She _had changed.

Haruno Sakura sighed and went back into righting her medical report. She was halfway through the last paragraph when a 'poof' was heard all over the room.

Sakura paused and let out a small smile.

She knew that poof anywhere.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura looked up.

"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not your sensei anymore?" Kakashi asked lazily, both his hands in his pockets.

"Kakashi, then," Sakura corrected, straightening up. "How may I help you?" she asked.

The silver-haired jounin shrugged. "I figured I'd pick you up on my way to Sasuke's."

Sakura stiffened at the sound of his name. "I don't think I'll -"

"You can't avoid him forever, Sakura," Kakashi interrupted, looking slightly somber.

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed softly and looked at her ex-sensei with obvious melancholy. "I won't be going, Kakashi-sensei," she said softly, unconsciously forgetting to omit her honorific.

When Kakashi made no move to leave, Sakura continued. "Besides," she said, "I doubt that he'd even notice that I wasn't there."

_Oh, she was _so _wrong._

* * *

Sasuke ran through the hospital corridors, not caring what or who he bumped on along the way.

Sakura's back. She's here, she's here, she's here -

"Room 509," Naruto said from behind him.

Sasuke nodded once and continued running through the hallways, unto his destination.

He had already seen the three bold numbers at the distance and didn't plan to stop until another blond-haired kunoichi blocked their path with obvious determination.

Sasuke stopped at his tracks. "Yamanaka," he said evenly, "let us pass."

"We know Sakura-chan's in there!" Naruto backed up, taking one step forward.

"You can't go in yet," Yamanaka Ino said, her pale blue eyes serious and hard.

"Why not?" Naruto persisted, taking another step.

Ino's hard gaze faltered a bit before she spoke. "We'll she's -"

"Is she injured?" Sasuke asked, his onyx eyes narrowing.

"We've healed her physical injuries, but -" Ino didn't get to finish. Sasuke was already opening the door to Sakura's room.

"Wait, Sasuke, there's something you must know!"

Two pairs of eyes turned towards his direction. One – amber ones – looked surprised, but the surprise quickly shifted to annoyance. ("Uchiha! You are not supposed to be here!") The other – Sasuke blatantly ignored the other person in the room as he stared back at the green eyes that were looking straight at him – gave him a curious gaze.

Sakura's green eyes looked at the Hokage. "Are they my doctors, too?" she asked, her voice familiar, but her tone foreign.

_What...?_

Sakura looked back at Sasuke.

"Hello," she greeted, her face breaking into an innocent expression.

_Saku -_

"They say my name is Sakura."

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

"What's yours?"

_- ra?_

)

until

we

are

whole

again

_If people walk on broken glass,  
They know what they are feeling,  
But those who live with broken lives,  
Are left without a healing._

**fin**


	5. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes:**

Thank you to all the readers and reviewers of Walking on Broken Glass! I originally planned this to be a ones-shot with a different cliché ending with the title "Until We Are Whole Again", but due to my crazy mind, I altered the ending, changed the title and planned a sequel! :3

ALSO, let me tell you all my feelings for the upcoming Naruto movie, Road to Ninja and Naruto manga chapter 590: _a;lksdjfa;'wleujr;aldkjmfa;lewkrasdjflsdf;lkjase._

For those who don't know, this is my first Naruto fanfiction featuring my OTP: SasuSaku! Yay!

* * *

**Questions:**

1. Sequel?

Yes. I have planned a sequel for this fanfiction, but I am not certain if I will publish it. Perhaps if at least one of my readers requests it, I would. If not, I won't. I would be happy to write for at least one person, so if you think I should post the sequel, drop a review saying you want it.

(_Edit: 5/30/1_2) The sequel is published! It's entitled "Until We Are Whole Again". Story ID is 9279524.

2. Do you make your own book covers? Does this mean you take up graphic arts, too?

I've had a lot of practice, yes. I _did _make the book cover, but the images used are not mine, no.

3. Did you make the poem you put at the beginning of every chapter?

No. This wonderful poem is entitled Broken Glass; Broken Lives by David Ronald Bruce Pekrul.

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

(I should have put this at the beginning of the first chapter, but better late than never, right?)

I don't own Naruto. If I did, SasuSaku being canon would be obvious. (Because _haters gon' hate_ I know SS is canon, no matter what other people say.)

* * *

**Contact me:**

aminatsu032. tumblr. com - _tumblr_

aminatsu032 – _twitter_

* * *

**Walking on Broken Glass by Aminatsu032**

**Completed on June 25, 2012**

**Copyright 2012**


End file.
